Multi-storied building and air conditioning structure



Sept. 2, 1958 R. P. racial-:AmamiN MULTI-HSTORIED BUILDING AND AIR CONDITIONING STRUCTURE* Original Filed Feb. 24, 3.954

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 BY akdral- 60607677 MmwmrroK/YEY Sept. 2, 1958 R. P. GOEMANN MULTI-STORIED BUILDING AND AIR CONDITIONING STRUCTURE Original Filed Feb. 24, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 n SNN l INVENTOR.

,Q/(ard 77. 60e/awo @Q6-ALF Mm- United States Patent-O MULTI-STORIlED BUILDINGy AND AIRy CONDITIONING STRUCTURE Richard P. Goemann, Port Washington, N.' Y., assigner to H. H. lRobertson Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania v Original application February `24, 1954,.. Serial yNu.

412,217, now .PatentNm 2,729,429, dated January, 1956.` Divided and thisfapplication September 6, 1955, SeriaINo. 532,437 v 3. Claims. l (Cl.98,-31)V "This invention relates to a multi-storiedbuildinghavingf` afnovel air condition and distributing system. y

"Oneobjectof the-invention is to provide a-novel construction `of multi-story building-whe' '1ein-provision-isk made forf'distributing air from supply ducts inthefservice'core through cellular ylloors constituting the-load supporting hoor-structure of lthe' bulidingfin a novel, economical and practical manner, such asto minimizey the spaceffrequirements for ducts'and yother accessoriesI 25 in vspaces between the oors "andthe ceilingsl'immediately below the same.

A- furthe'r object of the invention is Vto provide a novel building structure of the character," described wherein at least some of the load supporting'iloors of the Ybuilding comprise the j'cellular metal floors illustratedin they United States patent to Young, No. k1,867,436','granted July 12', 193,2;'and wherein provision is made for distributing air fromair supply ducts in'the service core throughout" Patented Sept. 2, 1958 frice y2 connected to a cross Vbeam and with a cover plate overly-v ing'the ends ofthe upper member of the units;

Fig. 6 is an end View of a cellular duct unit, such as shown in Fig. 2, supportedupon a girder; and

Figs. 7, 8 and 9 are cross Asectional detail views of the modified form of the air conducting cell shown in Fig. 3, Figs. 7, 8 and 9 corresponding to Figs. 4, 5 and 6 of the cell shown in Fig. 2.

The presentinvention is directed to a component of the complete multi-storied vand'vair conditioned structure disclosed in my copending ,.application,v Serial` No. 412,217, led' February 24,' 1954, Aand now Patent No. 2,729,429, granted lanuary 3, 1,956, of which thevpresent application is a division.

As more-fully vdisclosedin application, Serial No. 412,217, now Patent No. 2,729,429, the'apparatus and system which has been illustrated as embodied in an air conditioning and an air distributing system, particularly in Ia multi-story building, mayunder varying conditions of operation serve the several purposes of ventilation, exhaustingair lfrom .'withinthe building, `for heating a part or all of the building, for cooling a part or all of the building A and for general airj conditioningpurposes. For convenience of description the apparatus and system Vwill be at timesreferred to herein as an air conditioning and d distributing system.

' story building in-'which'provision is made for distributng conducting cells forming a portion of the cellular doors i airtight, enabling4 the practicaLdistribution `of the conditioned air to selected parts of 'the building to air condition'the same. y y

With these general objects in .view and such others as may hereinafterappear the invention consistsin'the novel and improved .air condition and distributing system and in the novel means for sealing -the selectedair con-r I ducting cells forming a part of the cellular oorvto e11- able the conditioned air. to be-distributed.therethrough to selectedpartso the buildingto air coudilionthe same,k

all..as hereinafter described `and particularlydefined .in the claims at the end of this: specication.

/ In the drawings illustrating the `preferred embodiment the: cellof Fig. 2 shown supported @upon and connected to a girder and showing theendclosure plate in position;

Fig; .5 is Va -zcrossfsectional detaih-view.- of a ,portion oiafcell'of the kindshown in Fig. 2;:illust-ratingL-the ends pt two.. abutting cellsunitsfjoined. in .abutting relation and air through a cellular load supporting licor structure in a` novelmanner such that economies in space between a particularA door at one story `and the ceiling of the next story below may be eliected, andas a result the framework ofthe buiiding may be limited to the minimum kheight required to produceA a predetermined number of stories of Vthe building, each of a predetermined height' from ldoor toN ceiling.

i The` present air conditioning systems for multi-story buildings now on the market embody ducts at each floor where it is desired to effect the air conditioning. These ducts k'arepf l'relativelyflarge cross sectional dimension and' Aoccupy `a substantial space wheninterposed between the door and ceiling and are designed to conductsoscalled primary air from a source 'of supply, Vusually located in thebasement of the building through risers in the usual service coreof the |building and then through such relativelylarge-distributing vducts between the ceiling and oor topspecially-designed outletboxes usually disposed around the periphery of theV building and below the windows of the building.v These outlet boxes are usually provided with heating or cooling coils, and in the operation of such systems theyair within the ,building orwithin'the particular roomor portionoflthe building in which the sill 1boXesHare located Iis caused to circulate through the sill boxes by inductionvcaused by the How of primary air through a` special orioe or device in the sill box. In other Wordsthe prior art'systems all embody at each story, air ducts running beneatlrtheoor and between 'itvand the ceiling ofthestorybelow, andthe successful operation of the system depends vupon the conditioning of theV air in the sill boxes and the induction oftheproper vamount of air from'twithin the room or .portion ofthe building in which the sillboX- is located.L YSuchnan' airdistribution system inadditionlto the elaborateducbsystem andthe height whichfis Wasted 'by'y .the Iducts v:between the" ceiling and :the noon-.as described, noty only is ilesslei'cie'nt in operation but alsorequires the distribution o-ffwater to the individual` silliboxes fromV a sourceV inthe service core requiring ai moreor less tailor-madeinstallation depending .'uponthe location 'of .the individual-.sill boxesand their.. distance from thewsergvicevcore.: Such systems leave much'zto be desi-red# in'thefwayfoff exibilityfandmost.

fflnfgeneral atheypresent vsystenrseeks. to :eliminate Athe Waste space above referred to between the ceiling and the floor in a multi-story building which, as stated, is

' that illustrated in the'United States patent to Young,`

above referred to, as a component of the present air conditioning and distribution system Iby which both hot and cold air' or by which cool air in different volumesror in diierent degrees of conditioning, or for heating or cooling purposes may be distributed in an economical, highly flexible and superior manner to outlets disposed not only around the periphery` of the building but also at selected intermediate locations, and which may discharge either into the building upwardly through suitable outlet boxes or downwardly through ceiling outlets into the story next below.

In order to efficiently distribute the conditioned air or any volume of air from a source of supply through selected of the flooring cells the cells must be sealed at their sides and ends to prevent escape of the air and to enable a constant volume and velocity of air to ilow therethrough. In accordance with the present invention novel means are provided to accomplish this result.

Referrin gnow to the drawings and particularly to Fig.V

1 which illustrates in plan view a sufficient portion of one of the floors of a multi-story building embodying the present air conditioning and distributing systems to enable the invention to be understood, represents the usual building service core or vertical shaft which may extend upwardly from the basement of the building to the upper story thereof and through which elevators and other services are extended from the basement and which mayV be distributed to the desired locations within the building. For purposes of illustration the air conditioningand distributing system is herein shown as comprising a systemV in which provision is made for conducting a supply of heated air upwardly through one set of risers or vertical.

supply ducts located at opposed corners of the service core, and cold 4air is conducted upwardly through a second set of risers or vertical supply ducts 22 similarly located. Customarily in multi-story buildings a corridor indicatedat 24 is arranged to extend along at least oneA side 2S and one end 26 of theservice core or vertical shaft 10, and in most instances such a corridor extends completely around the service core. Hot and cold air is supplied to selected of a plurality of the cells inthe portions of the floor opposite the ends of the service core, and which portionsare designated A and B in Fig. 1,

throughV ductconnections, as will be described, fromtheV respective sets of the hot and cold air lrisers 20, 22 in the one side and one end of the service core. As shown in Fig. 1,` the hot and cold air connecting ducts 40, 41a1e hung at near the ceiling of the corridor and are interconnected as indicated by the mark X in Fig. 1 to selected oor ducts 44, 45 and also to as many other similar ducts as 47, 48, depending upon the window spacing at the part of the periphery of the building to which the oor-cells run from the end of the corridor. As indicated in Fig. 1, the part of the ducts 40, 41 beyond the connector to the oor cells 44, 4S may be reduced in sectional dimensions, and as indicated,.the cold air duct 41 maybe connected to a separate floor cell 46 from which cold air maybe discharged throughV an outlet 49 at a point midway between the corridor and outer wall of thev building Vas shown. From the inspection of Fig. 1 it will be seen that the hot and cold air may be conducted through any number of the selected oor cells to distribute the air to near the outer building wall, preferably atthe windows. The' 50 erected at and immediately below the window openings at the outer wall of the building so that air of the desired temperature may be discharged into the room at the various outlet locations.

Also as illustrated in Fig. l, provision is made for dis- .tributing air to the portion B of the building, and for purposes of illustration a system isy Ashown wherein the hot and cold air is mixed to a predetermined temperature before being introduced into the floor cells. Asshown in Fig. l, air streams from the second set ofthe hot and cold air risers 2d, 22 located in the opposite corner of the service core are led through distributing ducts 52, 53 into specially designed mixing chambers 54 erected in the parof the corridor alongthe second end of the service core, as illustrated in Fig. 1, so that from the mixing chambers 54 air of the required temperature maybe introduced through connecting Vducts61 into selected and spaced door cells 56, 57 and 58, 59 running from the corridor in a direction at right angles to the end of the servicel core Y and terminating under windows at the periphery of thel building where the lair is discharged from outlets 60 into the room. As shown in Fig. 1, vthe cold air may be connected to a `separate floor cell 64 from which cold air may be discharged at one or more points intermediate the corridor and theouter wall of the building. In-some in-l stances'selected cells` 56, 57, 58, 59 may be connected to any suitable vceiling outlets 66 from which the air may be discharged into the building aty the story below the floor.

In order to' distribute the hot and cold air from two sets of the connecting ducts 40, 41 located in the corridor to the portions of the building indicated generally at D and E wherein the floor cells extend parallel to the sides of the service core 10, it is preferred to employ a pair of air supply header ducts 80, 81, as shown in Fig, l, connected to selected oor cells in each of the portions ofl the floor D and E. For illustrative purposes thesystem of air distribution has been shown and will be describedi only for the section D of the floor. These header ducts 40, 41 may be connected with the hot and cold air risers 20, 22, as indicated in Fig. 1, and the hot air is led'into selected, and as herein shown, alternate oor cells and the cold air led into intermediate and alternate'oor cellsY 86. The header ducts 80, 81 are preferably'extended Vto the two outer floor cells 87, 88 nearest the wall of the' "building so that the hot and cold air may be distributedy lengthwise of the outer wall, and connection is preferably. made at each window location by conduits 89, 91 from',

these distributing cells 87, 88 to outlet boxes indicated at 60 located at some of the windows.

From an inspection of Fig. 1 it will be observed that in the upper portion of the section D of the floor I have illustrated one arrangement of air distributing ducts in which the oor ycells 86 are interconnected by a duct 92' ducts 96-96, 97-97, and 98--98. It will be understood that this showing is for illustrative purposes only, and in some instances I may prefer to utilize either system in thev v entire portion D of the floor and also in the entire portion metal iloor illustrated in the Young Patent No. 1,867,433: above referred to has been used for carrying wires andA may be used to conduct the conditioned air to the various outlets above referred to, it is preferred to erect the oor utilizing with alternate conventional multicellular units,- asshown insaid Young PatentlNo.. 1,867,433, aseriesnof air carrying units 102, Fig. 2, having a .singletenlarged cell of a sectional dimension such as to conduct a relatively large volume of air` therethrough. Thisacell unit 102 is preferably of a width equal to one half the width of a conventional multicellular unit and is preferably constructed with malevand female lips`1'03,r 104 at the'margins thereof for'cooperation with corresponding lips Avon the margins of the conventional'units. For example, the conventional multicellular floor units may have fourl cells spaced six inches on centers with 1anl overall width of twenty-four inches between -the-centenlines of -themarginal lips while theillustrated singleair carrying cell-102 may be twelve -inches in overall width between the center.

lines of the marginal lips.- Inf-thev preferred construction of the floor for the embodiment in a multi-story building embodying the invention, the single cell air carrying units 102 are erected in alternate relation to the conventional multicellular units. Any of the iioor cells such as 44 to 48, etc., may be of the specific construction embodied in either of the units 102 or 102a shown in Figs. 2 to 9, it being understood that the conventional ducts referred to hereinbefore have been omitted from Fig. l in the interest of simplicity in illustration. In this manner it is possible to maintain the desired electrical wiring potential of the iioor without detracting from the use of the floor for con- `ducting the conditioned air to the various outlets discharging into the various parts of the building at a particular story thereof or downwardly through ceiling outlets to the story below. As best illustrated in Figs. 2, 4, 5 and 6, the improved air carrying cell unit 102 may and preferably will comprise an upper member 110 of substantially inverted U shape having anges 112 at the marginal portions of the legs 113 thereof. The inverted and flanged U-shaped`upper mem-ber 110 is adapted to tit within the generally U-shaped lower member 114 to provide space between the legs 115 of the lower member and the legs 113 of the upper member so as to enable the iianges 112 and the lower member 114 to be held to a supporting beam B by welds 117 as shown in Fig. 6. Preferably, the end of each upper section 110 terminates a short distance from the end of the lower section 114 so as to permit the end of the lower section at the wall of the building to be closed and sealed by anged end sealing members 120 which may be welded at 118 to the bottom section 114 and to the supporting ibeam C as shown in Fig. 4. As shown, the ceiling member 120 comprises a vertical web 120b having ilanges 120C and 120d extending from the ends thereof in opposite directions. The ange 120C engages the inner surface of the lower member 114 and the flange 120:1 engages the outer surface of the upper member 110. The anged sealing members 120 may be caulked with cementitious sealing compound and the concrete floor fill 122 further assists in sealing the ends of the cells. In erecting the door, the upper sections 113 and the lower sections 114 yof the air carrying cellular units are erected in end abutting relation, as is shown in Fig. 2, and the joints between the upper members 110 are sealed by a cover plate 124a, Fig. 5. The joints between abutting lower sections may be taped and sealed by a suitable cementitious sealing compound, Fig. 2, as indicated at 116, so as to reduce possibility of air leakage to a minimum. Conditioned Iair may enter and leave the flooring cell units 102 through suitable openings in either the upper member 110 or 114, depending upon the manner in which the unit 102 is used. For illustrative purposes, openings 123 have been shown in the member 114, said openings being suitable for establishing intercommunication with air supply ducts such as 40 and 41, crossover ducts S0 and 81, etc.

Figs. 3, 7, 8 and 9 illustrate a modied cell unit 10251 in which the upper members 110a are provided with marginal male and female flanges 103a and 10401 similar to the flanges 105 and 104, and the lower members 114a are provided with lateral flanges 10317 and 104b which engage '6 thev upper members a-at a point .inwardlyv o'fthe-lianges- 103g and .104a, as is clearly shown in Fig. 9.

The upper Vmembers l10n are of less'length than the lowermembers 114a so that a space S, Fig. 8, is formed between the ends of adjacent members.- In assembling the members l10n and 114a, the outermostends of the upper members 110a are set backfrom the corresponding ends of the lower members 114a andthe open ends of the cell unit 102a are closedby anged sealing members '120e similar yto the members '120. The.adjacentends ofthe lower members 114a at intermediate joints abut and are sealed by'tape andsealing kkcompound indicated at'116a. At the intermediate joints wherey theends ofthe upper members 110a are :cut back andf the lends of the lower 8, and cover plates 124 are installed and sealed to the ends of the upper sections 110a, as illustrated in Figs. 6 and 9. The outermost end portions of the members 114:1 are Welded to beams 126, as' indicated at 127. In practice both tape and sealing compounds 116a may be used with advantage to insure air-tight air carrying cells at all joints between adjacent sections.

This application is a division of my copending application, Serial No. 412,217, filed February 24, 1954, and now Patent No. 2,729,429, granted January 3, 1956.

' Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. In a building structure, a frame, a metallic cellular load supporting iloor erected on the frame, said cellular metal floor comprising a plurality of cellular units erected in longitudinal and aligned relation defining cells for air flow therethrough, sealing means for sealing the end joints between ladjacent endwise aligned `cellular units, means for closing the ends of the endmost units in an aligned series of units, means for introducing air under pressure into selected of said oor cells to effect the ow of air through the aligned cells, and `outlet means through which the air is discharged from said cells into the building, each of said aligned cellular units comprising an upper and lower member, one of said members being provided with marginal ilanges adapted to interengage with other units, said upper member being U-shaped and said cellular units being assembled with the upper member in inverted relation to the lower member, the upper member being of less length than the lower member and having its ends terminating a short `distance from the ends of the lower member.

2. In 1a building structure, a frame, a metallic cellular load supporting floor erected on the frame, said cellular metal iloor comprising a plurality o'f cellular units erected in longitudinal and aligned relation delining cells for air flow therethrough, sealing means for sealing the end joints between adjacent endwise :aligned cellular units, means for closing the endsy of the endmost units in an aligned series of units, means for introducing air under pressure into selected of said floor cells to effect the flow of air through the aligned cells, and outlet means through which the air is discharged from said cells into the building, each of said aligned cellular units comprising `an upper and lower U-shaped member, one of said members being provided with marginal flanges adopted to interengage with other units, said units 'being assembled with the upper member in inverted relation to the lower member, the upper member being of less length than the lower member and having its ends terminating a short distance from the ends of the lower member Iand providing a space therebetween, the projecting portions of the lower members being welded to the frame, and the spaces between the adjacent ends o'f the upper members being closed by said closing means and which means is shaped to conform to and fit over said upper members.

3. In a building structure, a frame, a metallic cellular load supporting oor erected on the frame, said cellular metal floor comprising a plurality of hollow, elongated cellular units erected in longitudinal and aligned relation 7 dening cells for air flow therethrough, sealing means'for sealing the end joints between adjacent endwise aligned cellular units, means for closing the ends of the endmost units in Ian aligned series of units, means for introducing air under pressure into selected of said oor cells to effect the 110W of air through the aligned cells, said endmost units having a top and bottom Wall with the top wallterminating short of the end of the bottom wall, and outlet means through which the air is discharged from said cells into the building, said means for closing the ends of the endmost units comprising a member having a vertical web and upper and lower flanges extending in opposite ydirections from said web, the upper flange engaging the upper outer surface of the top wall of the unit and the lower flange being secured` to the innerl surfaceV ofthe rbottom Walll of the unit. Y

References Cited in. thele ofthis patent `UNITED STATES PATENTS 220,765 Linford Oct. 21, 1879 1,974,767 Clark Sept. 25, 1934 2,081,197 Goeller May 25, 1937 2,125,366 Young et al Aug. 2, 1938 2,182,686 Young Dec. 5, 1939v 2,184,113 Calafati Dec. 19, 1939 2,192,567 Waugh Mar. 5, 1940 2,206,119 Persons July 2, 1940 2,641,449 Antony June 9, 1953" 

